Players from the under-17 national teams of host Jamaica and Canada gather for a group photo at the friendly on November 29, 2016, in Kingston.
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Canada scored two goals in the first half and earned a 3-1 win over host Jamaica in an under-17 international friendly on Tuesday at the JFF Technical Centre.
It was the Canadians’ second victory in the two-match series, following Sunday’s 3-0 result.
"We had a good camp and played two good international away matches," said Canada head coach Paul Stalteri. "We battled and we came away with two results. Our first half (on Tuesday) featured some of our best football this year.”
Antonio Rocco Romeo (37’) put the visitor ahead late in the first half and Terique Mohammed (54’) doubled the advantage nine minutes after the break. Two minutes later, Jamoi Topey (56’) halved the deficit for Jamaica, but Olakunle Dada-Luke (89') restored Canada’s two-goal with a minute remaining in normal time.
Despite the back-to-back losses, Jamaica head coach Andrew Edwards saw improvement from his squad.
“I am pleased with the performance, but not with the result,” said the 41-year-old. “There are areas like the final ball which we still need to improve on. However, I am proud of the effort my boys have given today. I still feel that ahead of the CONCACAF U17 Championship we will be prepared to take on the best of CONCACAF.”
Both Canada and Jamaica are preparing for the next CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, which is slated to be contested in Panama from April 21-May 7, 2017.
Stalteri was delighted with the opportunity train in Jamaica.
"This was one of our objectives with this (November) camp, to face an opponent like Jamaica that is athletic and to match some of the conditions similar to what we will face in Panama," he finished.
